The likely death toll from a devastating weekend landslide in Washington state rose to 24 on Tuesday after rescue workers recovered two bodies and believed they had located eight more, the local fire chief said.

The discovery of additional victims came as crews searched under drizzly skies for survivors amid fading hopes that anyone could still be plucked alive from the massive pile of muck and debris.

"Unfortunately we did not find any signs of life today, we didn't locate anybody alive, so that's the disappointing part," local fire chief Travis Hots told a media briefing.

As many as 176 people remained listed as missing three days after a rain-soaked hillside collapsed on Saturday, tumbling over a river, across a state road and into a rural residential area where it swallowed dozens of homes near the town of Oso.